diff --git a/include/SDL3/SDL_surface.h b/include/SDL3/SDL_surface.h
index 13f1352ac..0fdfdcfb8 100644
--- a/include/SDL3/SDL_surface.h
+++ b/include/SDL3/SDL_surface.h
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ extern DECLSPEC SDL_Surface *SDLCALL SDL_CreateSurface
  * No copy is made of the pixel data. Pixel data is not managed automatically;
  * you must free the surface before you free the pixel data.
  *
+ * You may pass NULL for pixels and 0 for pitch to create a surface that you
+ * will fill in with valid values later.
+ *
  * \param pixels a pointer to existing pixel data
  * \param width the width of the surface
  * \param height the height of the surface
diff --git a/src/video/SDL_surface.c b/src/video/SDL_surface.c
index 36d2fdde3..37157ae96 100644
--- a/src/video/SDL_surface.c
+++ b/src/video/SDL_surface.c
@@ -203,7 +203,6 @@ SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(void *pixels,
                       Uint32 format)
 {
     SDL_Surface *surface;
-    size_t minimalPitch;
 
     if (width < 0) {
         SDL_InvalidParamError("width");
@@ -215,20 +214,26 @@ SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(void *pixels,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    if (SDL_ISPIXELFORMAT_FOURCC(format)) {
-        int p;
-        if (SDL_CalculateYUVSize(format, width, height, NULL, &p) < 0) {
+    if (pitch == 0 && pixels == NULL) {
+        /* The application will fill these in later with valid values */
+    } else {
+        size_t minimalPitch;
+
+        if (SDL_ISPIXELFORMAT_FOURCC(format)) {
+            int p;
+            if (SDL_CalculateYUVSize(format, width, height, NULL, &p) < 0) {
+                SDL_InvalidParamError("pitch");
+                return NULL;
+            }
+            minimalPitch = p;
+        } else {
+            minimalPitch = SDL_CalculatePitch(format, width, SDL_TRUE);
+        }
+
+        if (pitch < 0 || (size_t)pitch < minimalPitch) {
             SDL_InvalidParamError("pitch");
             return NULL;
         }
-        minimalPitch = p;
-    } else {
-        minimalPitch = SDL_CalculatePitch(format, width, SDL_TRUE);
-    }
-
-    if (pitch < 0 || (pitch > 0 && ((size_t)pitch) < minimalPitch)) {
-        SDL_InvalidParamError("pitch");
-        return NULL;
     }
 
     surface = SDL_CreateSurface(0, 0, format);
diff --git a/test/testautomation_surface.c b/test/testautomation_surface.c
index ed9481b80..1c17c6dca 100644
--- a/test/testautomation_surface.c
+++ b/test/testautomation_surface.c
@@ -621,6 +621,14 @@ int surface_testOverflow(void *arg)
     SDLTest_AssertCheck(surface == NULL, "Should detect negative pitch");
     SDLTest_AssertCheck(SDL_strcmp(SDL_GetError(), expectedError) == 0,
                         "Expected \"%s\", got \"%s\"", expectedError, SDL_GetError());
+    surface = SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(buf, 1, 1, 0, SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA8888);
+    SDLTest_AssertCheck(surface == NULL, "Should detect zero pitch");
+    SDLTest_AssertCheck(SDL_strcmp(SDL_GetError(), expectedError) == 0,
+                        "Expected \"%s\", got \"%s\"", expectedError, SDL_GetError());
+    surface = SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(NULL, 1, 1, 0, SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA8888);
+    SDLTest_AssertCheck(surface != NULL, "Allow zero pitch for partially set up surfaces: %s",
+                        surface != NULL ? "(success)" : SDL_GetError());
+    SDL_DestroySurface(surface);
 
     /* Less than 1 byte per pixel: the pitch can legitimately be less than
      * the width, but it must be enough to hold the appropriate number of